North Korean taekwondo team arrives in Beijing by overnight train like going to Kazakhstan

Split into two 38-passenger buses and travel to the North Korean Embassy

A member of the North Korean taekwondo team looks at the city of Beijing

A member of the North Korean taekwondo team, who arrived in Beijing after departing from Dandong Station, China, 스포츠토토 looks at the city as they leave Beijing Station by bus on Sunday morning.

North Korean athletes attending the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) World Championships in Kazakhstan (Sept. 19-26) arrived in the Chinese capital Beijing on Sunday morning.

The North Korean athletes, who boarded a sleeper train from Dandong, Liaoning province, at 6:18 p.m. the previous day, arrived at Beijing Station at 8:47 a.m., 14 hours and 30 minutes later.

The athletes did not move from their seats until all regular passengers had disembarked.

At 9:12, 25 minutes after regular passengers began to disembark, two 38-seat buses pulled up to the platform, and the athletes exited the train and transferred to the buses.

In the train station parking lot, there were also cars and vans with "133" license plates, which are used by North Korean embassies and consulates.

At 9:18 a.m., a bus pulled out of the train station parking lot, led by two black cars with 133 license plates and a van with the same plates.

Between the two buses that the athletes were sharing, a van with no visible interior was placed, as if to prepare for any eventuality.

North Korean taekwondo team arrives in Beijing

A bus carrying a North Korean taekwondo team arriving at Beijing station from Dandong, China, is escorted out of the station by a car bearing license plates of the North Korean embassy in Beijing, 토토 Sunday morning.

The athletes were completely cut off from contact with the general public as they left the train station.

The buses were curtained off from the public, but one female athlete took a long look at the city of Beijing through the curtains.

The athlete, wearing a white short-sleeved sweatshirt, turned her head away when she made eye contact with the press.

At the front of the bus, a man in a light blue shirt leaned against the backrest, apparently a team official.

The bus took the athletes to the North Korean Embassy in China, about a 15-minute drive away.

The athletes are expected to travel to Kazakhstan from Beijing by plane.

Foreign reporters from Japan and elsewhere also showed interest in the North Korean athletes, who are returning to China after three years and seven months since COVID-19.

"There is a lot of interest because it is the first time North Koreans have gone abroad since COVID-19," said a foreign journalist at a Beijing station, adding, "I don't know if this case can lead to the normalization of exchanges between China and North Korea."

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was evasive when asked by foreign reporters at a regular briefing to confirm whether the North Korean athletes had traveled to China, 스포츠토토맨 saying, "We currently have no information to provide on this issue."